354 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— F*. 



The technique of statistical analysis is applicable to special investigations, 

 to market studies and to such company statistics as purchasing, covering 

 raw material prices, stocks, production and consumption ; applying equally 

 to personnel activities, where data of wage rates, employment, cost of living, 

 salaries, etc., have to be marshalled and understood. 



In statistical presentation consideration should be given to the correct 

 use of the term ' average ' and to frequency distributions. In the charting 

 field the straightforward line chart, the moving annual total, the ratio or 

 semi-logarithmic scale chart, Z chart, and ordinary bar and circle charts 

 represent important methods of presenting data now in use. 



Dr. E. 8. Pearson. — Statistical methods in the quality-control of 

 output. 



A characteristic feature of modern industry lies in the attempt to make 

 the same thing again and again, yet it needs but little consideration to realise 

 that there is no field in which this result has been or is, indeed, ever likely to 

 be completely achieved. Whether we measure the ' sameness ' of a thing 

 by linear dimensions as in the diameter of a shaft or the length of a screw, 

 by tensile strength as in cotton thread or steel wire, by electrical resistance 

 as in parts of telephone equipment, or by one of many other methods, we 

 find that the recorded measures are not identical. And these differences are 

 not merely due to errors in measurement, but exist in the things themselves 

 that we have produced. We may record an average value, but we are also 

 forced to recognise the existence of variation about that average. 



An analysis of this variation will often, however, enable causes of trouble 

 — or lack of control — to be located and consequently eliminated. It is 

 possible to summarise the results of such analysis in certain simple control 

 charts which indicate the position and extent of the trouble and the effect of 

 its removal. 



Mr. F. W. Paish. — The selection and interpretation of business statistics 

 in the light of recent research into the causes of the trade cycle. 



Friday, September 2. 



Afternoon. 



Discussion on The selection, training and placing of administrative per- 

 sonnel, including the study of the ' Case Method ' as an instrument in 

 education and training for management (Chairman : Dr. J. A.Bowie; 

 Mr. Jules Menken ; The Hon. J. F. A. Browne) : — 



Mr. Jules Menken. — The Case Method. 



The Case Method uses problems drawn from the experience of business 

 firms for instruction in the principles of business administration. Cases, 

 which are problems in written form, constitute the basis of class discussions 

 designed to develop the habit of analysis and quality of judgment increasingly 

 required in modern business. 



The successful use of the Case Method involves a large number of factors, 

 including the selection and training of teaching staff and case collectors, the 

 development of confidence amongst firms which supply material, the plan- 

 ning and organisation of the subject-matter treated, the collection of the 

 right facts and their presentation in a suitable way, and, last but by no means 



